The

Martello Tower

In 1794 during the wars following
the French revolution, the British navy needed to capture a fortified
tower located on Point Mortella on the island of Corsica. This turned
out to be more difficult than expected, because the design of the tower
was rather sturdy. It was round and had very thick walls and had a flat
top with a gun that could point in all directions.
The troops on the tower held the ships at bay for two days, when they
were taken by a land based force.

When Napoleon Bonaparte, a former
inhabitant
of that very island, started to stir up trouble in Europe, Britain felt
very vulnerable and the design and prowess of this Corsican tower was
remembered and dozens of copies were built along the coasts of Kent and
Sussex. Due to a characteristic linguistic mix-up the structures became
known as Martello towers. By the end of the Napoleonic wars Martello
towers had spread as far as the East Indies and Canada, and several
were built in Ireland. Two magnificent examples cover the entrance to
Lough Foyle.

The Magilligan Martello tower was
built
towards the end of the wars in 1812 and is one of the most northerly of
the towers built all around the coasts of Ireland. Originally a 24
pounder cannon was mounted on the top. It was fastened to a central
pivot and moved on a circular rail so that it could point in all
directions. The tower was built on top of a spring to ensure fresh
water in case of a siege. Below the gun platform were the living
quarters and the ground floor was used to store powder and ammunition.
There is a similar tower in Greencastle, on the other side of Lough
Foyle.

Martello Tower at Greencastle
across Lough Foyle

The dressed sandstone is from the
Ballyharrigan quarries in Bovevagh and the building is a monument to
the craftsmanship of Irish masons at the time. The wall of the tower is
reputed to be eleven feet thick and the structure is well preserved,
except for the entrance which is blocked for unspecified safety
reasons. It stands in a beautiful location looking out to the Atlantic
beyond the golden sands of Benone Strand and with a splendid view of
Greencastle and the Donegal Hills on the other side of Lough Foyle.

You might think that all this
would make the
spot a tourist paradise, but unfortunately this beautiful place is
surrounded by an army shooting range and Magilligan jail, which make
the drive to the tower a rather forbidding experience. At the moment a
pier is being built at the point. It will link Greencastle and
Magilligan within the year via a car ferry. This is very handy for the
local tourist trade and it will save people from Limavady the 35 mile
round-trip, as well as opening a completely new route to escaped
non-swimming prisoners from the nearby jail.

Recently I have had a chance to
inspect the inside of the tower, which
is presently being restored to its former glory. Friendly workmen are
re-pointing the outside of the building,
removing the beginnings of a 'hanging garden' in the process, because
various weeds have started to colonize the walls of the tower.

I can vouch for the famous
thickness of the
brickwork, because the
spiral staircase that leads to the top, is actually built inside the
wall, just to the left of the entrance.

On the 7th of July 2012 we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the
Martello tower in Magilligan. This enabled me finally to have a good
look around the inside of the tower - nicely lit by electric lights and
also climb that staircase on the left to the very top.

Below is a selection of the photographs I took on that day.

On the left is a rather nice cross-section of
a typical Martello Tower. As they all followed the same design, local
variations will have been minor.

The 24 pound gun is mounted at the top. It is held in place
by a central spike and can be turned full circle by running on two iron
rails. Below this are the living quarters for men and officers. The
ground floor was the storage area for powder, canon balls and various
kind of equipment and the cellar - where it was coolest - stored water
and food.

The picture on the right shows the top of the spiral
staircase leading up to the roof. Notice the well-worn steps. Carting
cannon balls up staircases obviously entails a lot of wear and tear.

The
top of the tower. Notice the storage niches for the cannon balls and
the doorways to two small alcoves . These, I assume, were used to store the operational gunpowder.
The
gun rotated on two flat iron rails. The photograph on the right shows
the central rail quite clearly. The outer raised rail is best seen on
the left picture.

Also notice what looks like two wooden logs lying on the
ledge. These are removable sections of rail, which
would have been fitted across the gaps left by the doorways.

The picture on the left shows one of the first floor rooms. I
assume that this is the officer's quarters, because it has a fire
place. The black hole to the left is an air vent to let the smoke out
and some air for the fire in.

The picture on the right shows the equipment store. Notice the staircase leading up the the men's quarters.
The electric light is of course a luxury for which the occupants of the tower
would have to wait for nearly 100 years. Torches and candles -
and plenty of them - were the best they could manage in Wellington's days.

We finish with a look at what I took to be the powder store.

The renovation of this tower was very well done though the
signposting leaves a lot to be desired.

It is a pity that this splendid
edifice is not open all the time. It would be the ideal place for the
display of some mementos of the peninsular war and of the people who fought
it.